Unsafe Haven
by WiseWithWords
Summary: This thing between them has been building for months now, Eddi knows it and Luc knows it too. Who will actually do something about it?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Holby City.**

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He was unbelievable. Every time she thought they were finally getting somewhere, he had to go and shut her out again.

Eddi had meant what she said earlier, someone must have really screwed him over to leave him so… ugh.

From the moment Luc had walked onto her ward they had clashed.

The rest of the staff on AAU had learned to keep out of their way when the sparks started to fly.

Despite the constant fighting, they did work well together. They were a team, albeit an extremely dysfunctional one.

Then the kiss happened. She was surprised, but undeniably pleased when Luc took note of her sobriety.

When he asked her to meet him after the shift, she almost laughed at finding herself led down to the wet lab. She should have expected it; it was his domain, after all.

And when he leaned in, her response was instinctive. His lips covered hers and she melted into his embrace.

There were no fireworks or fanfare, there was no need for it. She felt pure elation spreading throughout her body from her very core to her fingertips.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was aware of his hands firmly gripping onto her arm, where she had rolled up her sleeve.

All too soon, he released her and made a swift exit, mumbling some excuse about a patient or something.

Her head was spinning, trying to understand what had just happened between them.

They were cool with each other for weeks afterwards; their days were filled with awkward glances and painful silences.

However, there was no room for avoidance on a busy ward like AAU. They squabbled and bickered like always, the tension between them almost palpable, the atmosphere charged.

Try as she might, Eddi couldn't forget all that had transpired, and she was certain it was the same for Luc. The memory of the kiss hung over them like a constant shadow.

She was tired of it, tired of trying to understand Luc, tired of wanting to understand him and this stupid thing between them.

No matter what her head was telling her, Eddi's heart leapt and her pulse escalated whenever they were close.

Sometimes on the ward, their hands would brush past one another by time it happened, it felt like a jolt of electricity passed between them where their skin met.

Luc might try to hide it, but he felt it too, of that she was certain.

Perhaps that was why she found herself heading towards his camper van after her shift ended that night.

It hadn't been an easy day, the hospital was dealing with a Legionnaires' outbreak.

One man had already died on AAU and there were plenty of other cases.

The security guard, Kevin Drysdale had been complaining about feeling unwell and Luc had sent him home, mistaking his symptoms for a common cold.

Eddi didn't blame him; she certainly wouldn't have been able to make the diagnosis.

In fact, it was Luc's relentless determination which had uncovered the epidemic in the first place.

Unfortunately, he couldn't see it that way. He wasn't taking it well and Eddi knew he wouldn't want to talk about it.

Still, she could tell that he needed someone, that he needed her.

So she entered the camper van, and was unsurprised by his greeting,

"I don't want to talk about it," Luc looked up at her, clearly not surprised by her arrival.

"I know," she said simply, "That's not why I'm here."

He was feverishly reviewing the day's notes, his mind in turmoil, searching for something, a clue perhaps that would have lead him to an earlier diagnosis.

She was patient with his short words until sitting down with a deep breath; he began to open up, talking about his childhood and the comfort of hospitals.

She moved closer, her hand resting on his shoulder, trying to convey to him somehow that he was not at fault,

"I need to fix it," he stressed, the pain evident in his eyes.

Not completely understanding why, she turned his head to face her and looked into his eyes,

"Tomorrow," she breathed, there would be time to make up for any mistakes tomorrow.

This time, it was her turn to make the move, as she bent down to capture his lips with her own.

His hands rose to cup her face gently and draw her to him until they were impossibly close.

He needed her, Eddi thought as they tumbled onto the camper van's small narrow bed together, and she was going to be there for him.

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_Reviews are appreciated._


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Holby City.**

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Luc woke slowly, gradually becoming aware of his surroundings. He was in his own bed, he was sure but something was different.

Then it hit him like a brick wall, Eddi. There she was, lying in his bed fast asleep, one arm draped out over the edge.

As gently as he could, Luc disentangled their limbs and slipped down off the bed.

In the bathroom, he quietly dressed and prepared for the day ahead.

Memories of the day before began flooding into his mind.

Coughing patients, sputum tests, the confirmation of his diagnosis.

An outbreak of Legionnaires at Holby, with one man dead already, his wife and daughter inconsolable.

He had escaped to the solitude of his camper van, trawling through the day's notes, going around in circles trying to find the link between the Legionnaires' patients.

How had he not seen it sooner? He could have done more, he should have done more.

Then there was Eddi. She had followed him, she had listened. The way she had looked at him, as though she could tell exactly what he was feeling.

He found himself opening up to her, mentioning his mum for the first time in ages.

He felt like the floor had been pulled out from under his feet. His hospital, his safe haven, was suddenly the thing making people sick.

Being there was supposed to make people better; he was supposed to make people better.

It was an incredibly lonely feeling, but with Eddi, he knew that he wasn't alone.

This train of thought was interrupted as he, Sasha and Dylan saw the Health Protection Agency people arrive.

He had to focus; he had a job he had to do. A job he needed to do.

After Hanssen left him in charge of AAU, he walked onto the ward with Sasha to find Eddi already there, dishing out orders and instructions to the team.

"Morning," she flashed a smile in Luc's direction. He followed her into the office, not entirely certain what he was going to say,

"Eddi, about last night…" he began before she cut him off with a smirk,

"Don't worry about it. I know where your head's at, Luc," she launched into this speech about dates and moving in and IKEA and a messy break-up and he just looked at her with raised eyebrows.

Was that really where she saw this thing between them going? But then she looked over at him and he had to come up with a witty response quickly,

"Wow. I didn't realise Eddi meant all seeing, all knowing goddess in Ancient Greek."

It made her smirk some more and she told him to relax,

"Last night was just… last night, that's all," she left the office with a smile which he thinks was supposed to be reassuring.

He wasn't convinced; it didn't quite meet her eyes.

The rest of the day was a blur of patients and fighting. He and Eddi couldn't seem to agree on anything.

He couldn't believe it when she blatantly disregarded his instructions regarding a young Legionnaires' patient.

He was infuriated when she continued to disagree, although he kept his expression calm. It did nothing to lessen the blow of the cruel words which escaped his lips though, lips which had been attached to hers less than twenty four hours beforehand.

He watched her deflate before his eyes, trying to pretend he didn't notice the hurt in her eyes.

He was just doing his job; he was the registrar after all.

Still, he couldn't avoid Sasha's raised eyebrows and accusatory glance when they discovered a tumour in the boy.

Luc was wrong; the boy's father hadn't touched him, Eddi had been right after all.

He had to get to the bottom of it, just as he had to find the true source of the Legionnaires' outbreak.

It was only later in the day, when he stood by the boy's bed that he remembered his earlier encounter with Eddi.

The boy had been violent towards his father, blaming him for his mother's death. The advice he gave to him stayed with Luc,

"Fear can make people do very strange things; it can make them push away the people who care about them the most. Sometimes if you push too hard, there's nothing left. There's no great prize at the end of the road, it's just cold and lonely. Don't go there."

It suddenly seemed very apt. He glanced up at the clock, Eddi's shift was over, and she would be on her way home.

Still, there was a chance he might catch her if he hurried. Grabbing his jacket, Luc raced off the ward.

It was time to let someone in, if he could.

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_Reviews are appreciated._


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Holby City.**

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"Nurse McKee!" she heard Luc call from behind her, "Eddi!"

She really wasn't in the mood for whatever he had to say. She had promised herself she wasn't going to do this. She couldn't help him catching up with her though,  
"Listen, I was thinking maybe we should -" he began before she cut him off abruptly,

"Yeah, let's not." She kept walking, hoping he would back off, leave her to go home and have a little cry in peace.

It had not been a good day.

"Right, okay," was his only response yet he stayed by her side,

"I'm going to apply for a transfer," she told him, annoyed by the amused grin on his face,

"Yeah, I know, but when they give it to me, I'm actually going to stick to it this time."

It had only been two days since she had retuned from Leeds and so much had changed between them, yet at the same time, nothing had changed at all.

She was just so sick and tired of all the drama, Luc was infuriating her to no end and so she opened up her mouth and told him so,

"I can't do this anymore. I mean, what happened today, it all went pear-shaped because of us."

He tried to protest but Eddi didn't let him,

"Yes, it was. It was _just_ because of us. I mean, if we had worked together like a team, it wouldn't have even got to that place."

There was truth in her words, they were both just so bloody stubborn and this time, they got the police involved with that poor family.

She had feelings for Luc, certainly, but trying to understand what goes on in his head was just too much work sometimes,

"It's toxic, this, Luc. You know, it is not good for us."

For such a clever man with all of his qualifications and everything, Luc could be a real idiot at times,

"I don't understand. This morning, you said that last night didn't really mean anything?"

Eddi just turned and looked at him incredulously,

"What did you expect me to say?" she demanded, venting her frustration at him, "You woke up, you found me in your bed, you freaked out and you ran away, didn't you? Yeah, of course you did. What did you think I was going to do Luc? Did you think I was going to walk onto the ward and profess my undying love for you? I mean, Jesus!"

She was still talking when he interjected, "Don't do this please. Stop, just stop, Eddi!"

But his words can't stop her flow of rage, she's too angry at him, too caught up in the moment.

She doesn't notice him step across her, doesn't notice him reach out for her hands.

He only manages to gain her attention when his lips crash down over hers, drowning the words out.

Suddenly, he is all she can feel, the passion flowing from his lips as they move insistently against hers, desperately trying to tell her something. He pulls back, his hands still holding her tight.

Her eyes flutter open before she has realised they were closed. He is right there in front of her, staring at her with an intensity she has never seen before.

She's waiting for him to say something, anything, to convince her that they might stand a chance,

"I don't know how to do this," he admits, and there it is. He still doesn't know what to say.

It feels like they've been here before and she pulls away to continue walking. He follows; they both know that this is the last time this can happen. They cannot keep hurting each other like this.

However, for a man of so many large words, he seems to have great trouble articulating his feelings,

"Em… okay… what did you say came after sleeping together but just before IKEA?" he inquires, thinking back to their conversation earlier that morning in the office.

"A date," she looks up at him questioningly, a date is not something she thinks he has encountered before.

"Yeah, well that's it then, a date," he reaffirms, although the idea is a foreign concept.

"Yeah, it's weird, isn't it?" Eddi doesn't want to give a simple yes or no answer, she's not even sure that he's asking. Not that she would admit to it, but she's kind of impressed that the conversation has even gotten to this point.

"Yeah, it's a bit weird," Luc agrees, looking extremely nervous, "Suppose we could give it a go though…maybe?"

She doesn't give it more than a second's thought before replying,

"Okay." They might spend most of their time fighting but she knows that she really wants this, she really wants him.

She realises that he's taking a risk here and she needs to do the same.

A date, it's strange, but if he's willing to give it a go, then she is too.

She notices he's still walking with her but doesn't bother to turn around before addressing him,

"Go and get changed, Luc." She's hardly taking him out while he's still dressed in his green scrubs; the man is really clueless when it comes to these things,

"Call me!" she tells him as she walks off.

It isn't until he's turned back towards the hospital, that she smiles to herself. Maybe they're getting somewhere after all.

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_Reviews are appreciated._


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